A Calm During the Storm
by silvernickel
Summary: Brennan's afraid of thunder storms. Who does she call to get through one? One shot.


**A/N: Alright so this is my first ever fanfiction! It's pure fluff, and just a one shot. I'm a little nervous about posting it so the world can see… but anyway, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own Bones…**

A Calm During the Storm

"Bren, Sweetie?"

Dr. Temperance Brennan looked up from her computer screen to see her friend framed in the doorway of her office. "Yes Angela?"

"Are you heading home soon? It's getting pretty late and there's a storm warning…"

"Oh," Brennan replied bluntly. She thought it was going to be bad news, although to her it wasn't the greatest information. "For tonight?"

"Yeah, apparently it's gonna be bad one. You should head home so-"

"Yeah, okay," Brennan interrupted her friend and waved her off nonchalantly. "I'll head home soon." She didn't want Angela to think she was acting any differently than she normally would when her friend urged her to go home. Even though in reality, she was going to leave the lab as soon as possible after her friend left, so she could get home safe and sound.

"Okay Sweetie, I'll see you tomorrow then," Angela nodded, apparently satisfied with Brennan's answer. She turned on her heel and waved a hand at her friend.

"Have a good night," Brennan answered.

"Oh, I will," she said smiling to herself and turning around. "You have a good one too… You know it's a great night to get cozy in front of a fire…" Angela had a twinkle in her eyes Brennan couldn't understand.

"Okay," she replied rather confused to the back of a retreating and chuckling Angela.

Ten minutes later, after she was sure Angela was long gone, Brennan shut off her computer, grabbed her coat and bag off the hook, locked her office and strode out of the Jeffersonian into the dark night. The wind whipped at her hair and thunder rumbled in the distance as she unlocked her car door. Before climbing in and driving off, she looked up at the black sky, and shuddered. It was going to be a long night.

When Dr. Brennan got home, the first thing she did was run around into all the rooms, turning on as many lights as possible along with her CD player to provide some much needed distracting background noise. She knew that this did absolutely nothing to ward off the inevitable storm, but in a small child like way, it comforted her. She then threw her jacket and bag on the floor in her room and went to look for something to eat.

She rummaged around in her fridge for a while before settling on leftovers. Just as she popped her meal in the microwave, rain started to pound on the roof. She gave an involuntary shiver and, purposely mistaking it for being cold, went to put on some warmer clothes.

When she finished eating, Brennan set about cleaning the kitchen and every other room that needed to be tidied, just to provide a distraction. This prevented her from having to think about going to bed during the storm, although, it was a short lived diversion.

Instead of taking Angela's advice on cozying up in front of a fire, Brennan sporadically turned off a couple of lights, grabbed her latest anthropology magazine and headed to bed. She presumed that when Angela mentioned that she should lay in front of a warm fire, she had meant to say that she should be getting cozy with someone, not just sitting there all by herself. Although, Brennan had no idea who that someone should be, for she lived all by herself. Was she supposed to invite someone over in this storm so they could sit in front of orange flames with her?! That was a stupid idea.

Brennan's eyes started to droop as she finished reading the last pages of her magazine. She heard the last distant sounds of thunder and the slight patter of rain as it started to subside. Sighing in relief, she flicked off her light, flipped on her side, closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Brennan's eyes flared open as she shot up in bed, drenched in a cold sweat. Lightning illuminated her room making everyday objects morph into ominous looking creatures. Her room darkened just as fast as it had been lit up, and no more than two second later, thunder boomed, shaking Brennan's room and making it seem as though the storm was in her house. She immediately reached for the light only to find that it didn't turn on. To her dismay, her clock radio was also turned off and there was no soft glow emanating from under the crack of her bedroom door. She whimpered softly and drew the quilt closer to her body, not only for warmth but for the feeling of protection.

Slowly, she stood up and reached into her dresser drawer, pulling out a flashlight. She was prepared for emergency situations like these. She flicked it on and shadows stretched across the room. She swung the beam to the corner of her bedroom where it fell across her bag. She began to walk towards her bag but jumped back when lightning seared through her window and made the room look like it was the middle of the day and not the middle of the night. Brennan waited for the thunder to pass before she tentatively began to cross the room once again. Once she reached the other side, she set her flashlight down, picked up her bag and rummaged through it, smiling in relief as her hand curled around a cold rectangular object.

She pulled out her phone, flipped it open and punched in a phone number before she could even think of what she was doing. As it rang, thunder crashed, and she hurriedly picked up her flashlight and scampered to her bed, all the while hoping the person at the other end would pick up.

Lightning flashed and she was just about to hang up when a groggy voice answered, "Booth."

Brennan's fast beating heart substantially slowed upon hearing his voice. This was both to her dismay and her happiness as she replied quietly, "Hi."

"Bones?!" Booth asked, suddenly jolted awake. "What's wrong? Are you okay? What's the matter?"

Brennan instantly forgot about the storm as the scientist inside her kicked in. "Booth!" she replied. "You just asked the exact same question three times over!"

"Bones! Are you alright?" Booth asked worriedly, ignoring her accusatory tone.

"Once again, you're being redundant. But yes, I'm fine." She said, allowing a small smile to spread across her lips as she thought about how much Booth cared.

Brennan heard a sigh and a soft thud on the other end of the line as Booth flopped back into bed. She couldn't help but smile again when he replied, relieved, "Good, that's good that you're okay."

"Uh huh," she agreed, happy to have a voice talking to her. It made the lightning and thunder seem as though they were the unimportant backdrop to her more important conversation with Booth.

"Wait!" Booth cried suddenly interrupting her happy thoughts. "If everything's just peachy, then why on earth are you calling me at – oh, wait, my powers out." He faltered but quickly recovered. "Then why on earth are you calling me at who knows what time in the morning?!"

"Oh, well…" Brennan mumbled realising she was going to have to explain herself for her very late phone call; she hadn't thought that far ahead. "Well, first of all I have no idea what 'just peachy' means, and second, can't I just call my partner to talk?" She was reaching far out there with that one and she knew it. "Oh, and you're cell phone is working, seeing as though your talking on it, so it can tell you the time."

"Um Bones, it doesn't matter what the exact time is, all that matters is that it is very, very early. That's right, it's the wee hours of the morning," he continued not waiting for her reply. "And most _normal_ people, and yes, I'm implying that you aren't completely normal, don't call anyone, not even their partners, for no reason in the middle of the night. It's considered rude. Very rude in fact. Now, am I getting an explanation or can I hang up and go back to sleep?"

Just then lightning flashed and thunder boomed so loud that both Brennan and Booth could hear it in their own rooms as well as through the phone in the other person's room. Brennan dove into her bed.

"Whoa, that was a good one!" Booth said impressed. "Bones? Bones are you there?" All he got in reply was a slight squeak. "Bones? What's the matter?"

"Nothing," Brennan breathed, as she climbed out from under the covers.

"Yes there is," Booth said unconvinced. "Are you going to tell me or am I… Ohhhhh I know what it is. You're afraid of thunder storms, aren't you Bones? Finally, something normal about you." He chuckled.

"What? I am normal." She replied defensively.

"Ahh not denying your fear? Well that's good. The first step is to admit defeat and overcome the obstacle." Booth said knowingly.

"Whatever," Brennan rolled her eyes. "Besides, everyone has fears. It's not uncommon."

"I know you're rolling your eyes, and I never said it wasn't uncommon. I just think it's a bit amusing that your fear happens to be of thunder storms." Booth laughed and then out of habit winced, waiting for a physical blow from Bones that wouldn't come.

"I can see I was wrong in calling you," Brennan said coolly. "In fact I'm not sure why I dialled your number… habit I guess, and…" she trailed off.

"No, no Bones. You were right to call me. I'll cheer you right up. Make all your bad, bad fears go away!" He said in a child's voice as thunder resounded in his room.

"Fine," Brennan sighed. "I'm too tired and scar- worn out to argue."

"Good! So, what is it exactly that you're afraid of Bones?" Booth asked in a professional voice.

"Booth, if I wanted to talk to a physiatrist I would have called one."

"Right, sorry. What is it about thunder storms that makes you scared?" He tried again, this time more laid back.

Brennan sighed and gave in to his questioning, "I don't know why I'm fearful, I jut know that I've been scared since I was little kid. And I'm not just frightened of the lightning or thunder. It's the whole package that makes me afraid. Like the power going out and the wind howling." She couldn't believe she was telling this to Booth.

"Okay, well that's good that you admitted that to me, but seeing as I'm not a physiatrist, I have no professional way to help you, so I'll do it Booth Style!" A loud groan could be heard on the other end of the line. "Come on Bones, give me chance!"

"Fine, fine, go ahead."

"Yes," Booth smiled. Finally he could be the educated one helping Bones. "Well what Parker does when he's afraid is he comes running into my room and jumps into bed with me. I get up, make him a cup of warm milk and rub his back while he drinks it. I do this until he falls asleep. Then when the storms over, or the next morning, I put him back in his bed. It never fails to work," Booth finished off, pleased with his suggestion.

"Uhm Booth?"

"Yes Bones?"

"I'm not coming over to your house so I can crawl in bed with you, drink warm milk and have you rub my back." Brennan said in one breath. "Never gonna happen."

"Aww really?" Booth said feigning disappointment. Brennan blushed at the other end of the line.

"Did you actually think that would work?!" She asked, recovering quickly.

"Yes… no. And I didn't say it to anger you. You were inferring something I wasn't implying." Booth stated matter-of-factly while trying to stifle a laugh. "I was just giving an example of what some people do to help them cope with their fears."

"Well, you were comparing me to a 5 year old child for goodness sakes Booth! I'm a grown woman! Give me some better advice than that." Brennan demanded angrily.

"Whoa, pushy pushy. Simmer down Bones. You were the one that didn't want help in the first place and now I'm just trying to come up with some ideas!" Booth defended.

"Alright."

"Okay. While climbing into bed with me might not help you in the way you want to be helped…" Booth said smiling. "Making a warm glass of milk will help. Trust me, it's very soothing."

"I could tell you were smiling Booth, and my powers out, so no warm milk unless I put it in a pot and heat it over the fire… but that's kind of primal."

"Oh yeah… wouldn't want you acting like an ape! Okay, well, that kinda ruins all of my other suggestions too. I was going to say you should turn on lots of lights and read a couple of books until the storm passes, but those don't really work with the power out. What do you think you should do? I mean, what do you normally do when there's a storm?"

"Normally I do those things." Brennan said. She contemplated over whether she should say what she wanted to say. It would only add to Booths already big and constantly growing ego. "Could I just keep talking with you? It seems to be helping…" She trailed off quietly.

"What was that Bones?" Booth asked innocently, pretending he hadn't heard his partner.

Brennan grumbled something about egotistic males and then stated firmly, "Talking to you is helping! Can I just keep doing that?"

"Of course Bones," Booth chuckled. "And why don't you try thinking about how thunder and lightning work, maybe that'll help."

"I know how they work Booth, I'm not stupid. Lightning is just a discharge of electricity from the atmosphere and thunder is simply the sound produced from the lightning when the air surrounding the bolt rapidly expands." She was back into her scientist mode. "And that doesn't help me at all."

"No, no, no Bones." Booth shook his head. "I know you know how thunder and lightning work scientifically, but you have to think about it in an un-squinty way. I always tell Parker stories about what thunder and lightning could be caused by."

"Booth," Brennan interrupted. "I can't possibly imagine that the mind of a five year old could grasp the idea of how thunder and lightning come to be. Why on earth would you try to explain it to him?"

"No Bones!" Booth complained. "You just don't understand what I'm saying. There's other ways to explain what thunder and lightning are. Other, more fun and interesting ways that happen to capture the attention of a five year old."

"No there isn't," Brennan interrupted.

"Bones!" Booth cried. "If you would just keep your mouth shut for a minute I could tell them to you!"

"Fine," Brennan said tight lipped. "Go on."

"Well see, up in the sky there are these cloud giants and -"

Brennan let out a laugh and questioned, "Cloud giants?! What on earth are you talking about Booth? There are no such things. Clouds are inanimate condensed forms of water vapour in the sky."

"BONES!" Booth yelled. "I'm the one helping you, so you have to be quiet. And you have to listen to me. And use your imagination!"

"I don't like using my imagination because it doesn't base anything on facts. I prefer to use my mind. But you can continue and I'll try not to interrupt anymore."

"That's all I ask Bones, all I ask. Okay, there are these cloud giants in the sky and usually they are happy and they play with the sun and the wind but sometimes they get angry or unhappy. When they're just sad, they cry, and this is what the rain is, the tears of the cloud giants."

"Okay, I seem to be following your illogical explanation, go on."

"Thanks Bones, I was waiting for confirmation from you before I continued."

"Was that sarcasm I detected Booth?"

"You detected correctly. Anyways, when the cloud giants -"

"I think you should call them 'supposed' cloud giants, Booth. Obviously because there's no scientific evidence to prove their existence."

"That ruins the effect Bones, I'm trying to cheer you up!" Booth insisted as thunder boomed in the distance.

"Fine."

"Fine. So, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, when the cloud giants get angry, they swing from chandeliers in rebellion and this causes the lightning. Then, if they're swinging too hard they fall and this causes the booming thunder. Because they hurt themselves, they cry and that's the rain. It isn't until the sun comes out and cheers them up that they behave again. And they get especially happy when there is a rainbow after their tantrum." Booth finished his story. "There, that's a much better way to describe lightning and thunder wouldn't you say?"

Brennan yawned, "Yeah, I guess so. It was rather amusing to hear it coming from you. Although I still don't like my fears being compared to that of a child's."

"Thanks Bones. And I'm sorry for comparing your fears to a child's, it's just that Parker is the only person I know that is still afraid of thunder storms…" he trailed off as a loud beeping noise could be heard in both his and Brennan's rooms.

Brennan's clock radio blinked 12:00. "The powers back on!" Brennan smiled happily and told Booth.

"Yeah, and I think the storm is over too…" They both strained their ears to listen for any sound but they could only hear the trickle of water as the rain dissipated.

"Yes, it's over. There's no more rain so logically the thunder and lightning must be gone. Illogically, I guess the cloud giants are happy again… but wait, there's no sun so what cheered them up? Booth your fictional story is inconsistent!" Brennan accused.

"I guess it is, oh well. Maybe the moon cheered them up! And the only thing that matters is that you're fine now." Booth said.

Brennan's face grew red at his comment and then she grinned mischievously. "You know, I'm going to have to call you every time there's a storm now!"

"That's okay, I guess. But maybe we'll put some restrictions on the time you're allowed to call…"

"Nope," Brennan teased. "I'm going to call you every time, even at the wee hours of the morning. You proved to be a wonderful distraction. You were my… my…" Brennan struggled to find the saying. "My calm during the storm!" She finished triumphantly.

Booth smiled and laughed. "It's calm _before_ the storm Bones, not calm during the storm. But it was no problem; I'll be your distraction anytime."

Brennan's face flushed. "I'm going to presume that didn't have an underlying message."

"Presume away! I'm not saying it did, and I'm not saying it didn't."

"Goodnight Booth," Brennan replied, ignoring her partner's former comment.

"'Night Bones, sleep tight and sweet dreams," Booth replied caringly. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Brennan blushed again and smiled at Booth's words. She was suddenly very grateful that this entire conversation had been over the phone. "Thanks Booth."

"Anytime." He replied smiling as well.

"Oh, and Booth?"

"Yeah Bones?"

"Don't tell anyone okay? I wouldn't want people to think I'm weak and vulnerable."

"I wouldn't dream of it Bones. I wouldn't get away with it anyway; you'd beat me to a pulp.

"And you remember that."

Booth replied only with laughter.

With that, Brennan flipped her phone shut and flicked off her light. This time when she flipped over to fall asleep though, she gave a sigh of content instead of a sigh of relief. Ignoring her blinking clock, she closed her eyes and fell into deep sleep, a smile still spread across her face.


End file.
